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United States presidential election, 2020
| next_election = United States presidential election, 2024 | next_year = 2024 | votes_for_election= All elligable voters who participate | needed_votes = 51% of the vote | image1 = | nominee1 = Blank Pres. | party1 = Democratic Party (United States) | home_state1 = State | running_mate1 = Blank VP | electoral_vote1 = | states_carried1 = | popular_vote1 = 62,040,610 | percentage1 = 50.7% | image2 = | nominee2 = Donald Trump | party2 = Republican Party (United States) | home_state2 = New York | running_mate2 = Mike Pence | electoral_vote2 = | states_carried2 = | popular_vote2 = 59,028,444 | percentage2 = 48.3% | map_image = | map_size = 270px | map_caption = Presidential election results map | title = President | before_election = Donald Trump | before_party = Republican Party (United States) | after_election = Martin O'Malley | after_party = Democratic Party (United States) }} The United States presidential election of 2020 was the 59th quadrennial presidential election. It was held on Tuesday, November 3, 2020. The contest was between incumbent Republican President Donald J. Trump and his Democratic opponent, Senator BLANK, as well as Republican Senator Ben Sasse, who ran as an independent. The election would prove to be historic, being the first presidential election conducted by popular vote due to the newly ratified 28th Amendment to the Constitution. Trump had alienated much of his conservative base by failing to restore manufacturing jobs. BLANK, aided by the Ukrainian crisis and an economy in recession at home marked by low wages and a widening wealth gap, won the election by a fair margin. Trump, after defeating John Kasich for the Republican nomination, attacked BLANK as a dangerous left-wing radical. For his part, BLANK pledged to uplift the pessimistic mood of the nation, and won a decisive victory. As well, the Democrats won back control of the House of Representatives for the first time in 10 years, having already retook the Senate in 2018. Background Trump entered office with his transition fumbling and the White House unable to perform basic functions of the executive branch, all while being plagued by investigations into his activities, more often than not by Lindsay Graham and Kamala Harris. Trump's White House was known for being shoddily run, and rumors persisted that the President was largely leaving the day to day business of governing to Mike Pence and his children, who seldomly cooperated. Despite a rocky start Trump saw some early successes with cabinet appointments, most notably the lauded appointment of General Jim Mattis as Secretary of Defense, calming some concerns regarding Trump's ability to be commander-in-chief. However, Trump came under scrutiny with other appointments, notably that of Scott Pruitt as head of the Environmental Protection Agency and Rex Tillerson as Secretary of State. As well, Trump's response to more aggressive Russian activities in Ukraine, and public disagreements with the Joint Chiefs rapidly undid the President's progress on the home-front. Several Republicans in the House and Senate, long silent on Trump's qualifications as Commander-in-Chief, finally began attacking the President on defense, especially after Trump attempted to make overtures to Russia while snubbing NATO allies. Domestically, Trump's policies faced continuous opposition by Senate Democrats who, despite a strong battle in Louisiana, remained in the minority as of 2017. Chuck Schumer proved to be a far more competent leader than Harry Reid, and established an effective "Good Cop, Bad Cop" routine with progressive leader Bernie Sanders. Trump was forced to walk back most of his more radical proposals, and practically let Congress write his infrastructure package, which ended up being nothing more than a series of pork projects with no clear unified aim. The Affordable Care Act was also saved from destruction, but Democrats and Republicans managed to negotiate an elimination to the penalty for failure to sign up, while allowing health insurance to be purchased across state lines, though this did little to cut costs. Trump took unilateral action to establish a Muslim registry and ramp up deportations via executive order; however INS was nowhere near well staffed to carry out so many deportations, and the ACLU was quick to bring the registry to court. Despite this both actions were popular among many conservatives and independents. The House passed a measure to fully fund INS's "Deportation Force" as Democrats branded it, but Senate Republicans and Democrats blocked it from passage, leading to an ugly confrontation between the President and the Senate Majority Leader. By 2018, images of sobbing Mexican immigrants (many of them English speakers) being pulled from their homes caused Trump's deportation effort to rapidly lose popular support. The administration also continued to fail to carry out the construction of Trump's proposed border wall with Mexico. To top it all off, the US economy went into Recession near the end of 2017, with unemployment rising to 7.5%. Trump's popularity reached an all time low by the 2018 midterm elections, and Democrats managed to take back the House while the GOP would only hold on to the Senate by the skin of their teeth; in this case the Vice President. Trump attempted to blame the recession on immigration and the burden of refugees, and ordered an immediate close and deportation of all refugees seeking asylum. While Trump's most die hard supporters loved the idea, after a year it was seen as doing little to alleviate the crisis. The Recession finally ended in 2019, but not after the President was forced to abandon his effort to eliminate NAFTA and build the wall, and his Muslim registry was ruled unconstitutional. The economy continued to improve, but quality of life remained virtually unchanged for many Americans, and Trump's supporters began abandoning him. Nominations Democratic Party Nomination By 2020, the Democrats felt that their best chance to defeat Trump was to nominate a popular, unifying figure for their presidential candidate. They had key advantages, among those being that the Republican Party was internally divided and unpopular due to Trump's actions as president and the Recession. As well, BLANK's candidacy was strengthened by an early declaration of support by former President Barack Obama, who's popularity had steadily grown after leaving the White House. The Democrats, thus, threw their weight around him. Candidates * Corey Booker, U.S. Senator from New Jersey * Martin Joesph O'Malley, former Governor of Maryland File:Martino'malley.jpg|Former Governor Martin Joseph O'Malley of Maryland File:Cory_Booker.jpg|Senator Cory Anthony Booker of New Jersey Republican Party Nomination The three major Republican candidates in early 2019 were incumbent President Donald Trump, Senator Ben Sasse of Nebraska, and Governor John Kasich of Ohio. Trump and Kasich faced off in 34 primaries. This was the most tumultuous primary race that an elected incumbent president had encountered since President Carter, during the 1980 Presidential Election. Today, many historians agree that the only reason Trump won the nomination was because the Republicans knew they would lose no matter who it was. During the summer of 2020, there was a short-lived "Draft Mattis" movement; Secretary of Defense James Mattis was seen as a favorable alternative to a deadlocked convention. One poll showed that Mattis would be a more popular alternative to Trump than Sasse or Kasich, implying that the attraction was not so much to Kasich as to the fact that he was not Trump. Mattis was polling even with BLANK at the time, while Trump was seven points behind. Although the underground "Draft Mattis" campaign failed, it became a political legend. Candidates *Donald John Trump, 45th President of the United States from New York *Ben Sasse, U.S. Senator from Nebraska *Rafael "Ted" Cruz, U.S. Senator from Texas *Randal Howard "Rand" Paul, U.S. Senator from Kentucky File:Donald_Trump.jpg| Donald John Trump of New York File:BenSasse.jpg|Senator Ben Sasse of Nebraska File:Ted_Cruz.jpg|Senator Rafael "Ted" Cruz of Texas The Election The outcome of the 2020 United States Presidential election should never had been in doubt. By the end of the primaries, Trump's approval rating stood at 35.2%, the lowest since Richard Nixon. BLANK enjoyed almost unanimous support among minorities, especially Hispanics. Women were not that far behind, although a fair number supported Trump. As in the last election, the base of Trump's supporters were working class non-educated white men. Even their turnout, however, was less than before as many working class voters felt betrayed by Trump. This was due to the fact that Trump had not only failed to help alleviate their quality of life after the recession, but also keep that same promise which he made four years prior. Unlike the previous election, where voter turnout was historically lower due to both candidates being very unpopular, 2020 would see an unprecedented 61.1% turnout of the voting age population, the highest since 1968. BLANK would ultimately win with a fairly strong margin, making Trump the first President to lose a bid for reelection since George H.W. Bush. As well, the Democrats were able to recapture the Senate. The Republican Party would never be able to recover from the damage of Trump's presidency. They would continue to play a part in American political life for the next few years, but would never again be a viable force, finally disbanding after the election of Dylan J. Price in 2028. Their only consolation was that the Democrats would suffer the same fate, with BLANK being the last Democrat president. Category:United States Presidential Elections